Rivers Revealed....Rediscovering America's Waterways

Rivers Revealed was released by Indiana University Press in 2007. This is a soft cover edition of Beyond the Bridges. Purchasing this edition will save $8.55. Rivers Revealed is available in bookstores worldwide or go to our bookstore to order a copy.

EXCERPT......

Some of the stories in Rivers Revealed take place on steamboats where Hay served a Riverlorian. One of his duties was to point out interesting things along the river, as he is doing here with a passenger on the Mississippi Queen. His many years on the rivers are shared with readers in stories, history and practical information about our nations rivers. Rivers Revealed also features his many "lessons learned". Many stories will have the reader laughing out loud. Hay's favorite saying is "In don't make the same mistake twice; I'm too busy making new ones"

This is Jerry Hay in his boat "River Runner", landed on a sandbar on the Wabash River. It is well equipped for long journeys and shallow waters. It has a new fuel-efficient very low emissions engine. Some of the stories in Rivers Revealed take place from aboard this boat.

Review from Indiana Historical Society

Written in an engaging, conversational style, Rivers Revealed combines the author's lifelong love of America's waterways with practical and historic information gathered from his three decades as a professional riverlorian for the Delta Queen Steamboat Company in New Orleans. A modern-day Huck Finn, Jerry Hay spins yarns laced with personal anecdotes on such topics as navigating 500 miles of the Wabash River, the trials and tribulations of building a sternwheeler, "reading" the river, how to plan your own river adventure, a hair-raising but humorous river rescue, an unforgettable goose named Gilligan, the language of the rivers and riverboats, early to present-day river navigation, and much, much more. A book for all who love Mark Twain, these river adventures will entertain the landlubber and engage the boating enthusiast.

Review from Callie Clare, Indiana University

It is clear in readingRivers Revealedthat Jerry M. Hay is more than just knowledgeable about the rivers running through America’s heartland. Hay has made these rivers his life and has concerned himself not only with understanding the vessels that operate on them but also with their anatomy and how they flow and grow during their most peaceful of times and their most dangerous. Each chapter is a narrative about his experiences on the river, starting out with a story of him as a 15-year-old boy in a johnboat following a group of canoeists down the river for a multi-day 200-mile trip. The rest of the stories stem from this one, recounting the experiences of the wide-eyed 15-year-old as he ages and navigates the entire Wabash River, makes his own boat, rides on a towboat, and works for the Delta Queen Steamboat Company as a riverlorian on two of the most romanticized riverboats in the country: the Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen, which have since been retired, no longer to be seen traveling the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

Many of the other chapters in Hay’s book don’t simply tell a story, but teach some valuable lessons about the river. He instructs his readers about levees and dams and the dangers surrounding them, how these shape the routes of major rivers in both positive and negative ways. He also explains some of the folklore of river life, highlighting stories of exceptionally interesting or famous riverboat passengers, which vessels have the right of way on the river, on which side to pass other boats, and even how Samuel Clemens’ pen-name Mark Twain means 12 feet of water in river talk. Other chapters also focus on river history and tourism based on river life.

In addition to these stories,Rivers Revealedalso acts as a guidebook for how to navigate rivers. Hay is concerned that boaters who get out on the river don’t know the quirks of the rivers and has dedicated much of his time to documenting the Wabash River mile by mile for those interested in traveling along it.

Jerry M. Hay, while not theoretical on his subject, contributes to the study of folklore by using his experiences on the river to provide insight into a world not many of us often see. His research is quite refreshing, straightforward, informative, and entertaining. The excerpts of the journals he kept while traveling provide details and insight that demonstrates the importance of keeping great field notes. Hay proves that, with dedication, experience, and desire, anyone can be a folklorist. Not everything can be learned from books and Hay proves that by doing.